


nightmares & little brothers

by WreakingHavok



Series: after [1]
Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, post-isla nublar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 23:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WreakingHavok/pseuds/WreakingHavok
Summary: “Shut the door,” Zach hisses, finally able to move, scrambling to the edge of his bed. “They’ll see you!”“You’re shaking,” Gray says offhandedly, like he’s not concerned about his impending doom.Or,Zach Mitchell’s PTSD isn’t medically official, but he’s pretty sure it’s there anyway.





	nightmares & little brothers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mattory_Reylo_shipper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mattory_Reylo_shipper/gifts).



> So I just marathoned Jurassic Park/World and fell in love with all of the children. Seriously. Why is there a child in each movie? Don’t we have enough angst and trauma as it is without worrying about minors? 
> 
> Gifted to my friend who watched the movies with me and will (hopefully) appreciate this. :-)

Zach lurches up from his nightmare with a crazed howl, eyes blown wide, the thin sheet tangling around his legs and trapping him.

His room is dark and every shadow on the walls seems to move, phantom monsters shifting in the night and crawling closer towards him. He breathes hard, chest heaving as he desperately sucks in breaths, heart pounding loudly in his ears.

His clothes are damp with sweat and his eyes dart around the room, certain that something is going to leap out from behind a chair or from under his bed and any minute now he’ll feel razor sharp teeth tearing him in half, ripping his legs to shreds, claws scratching at his eyes and his mouth and slicing his throat so he can’t even scream -

A whimper escapes his throat and he snaps his mouth shut, heaving breaths through his nose as he tries to still his movements as much as he can.

If you don’t move it can’t see you, he repeats to himself, except that there are ones who can sniff you out and hunt you down and slice their talons against your ankles so you can’t run as they screech and toy with you. They’re the small ones, the ones capable of hiding and luring and tricking and small enough to fit inside a room. Small enough to be anywhere.

There’s a soft knock, and then the door to his room opens with a horrendous creak. Zach winces as the light from the hallway hits his eyes. They know how to open doors, Zach remembers Gray telling him. Raptors are almost smarter than humans. 

The door swings open a tiny bit more, the sound of the hinges sending chills down his spine. He debates whether or not he has time to slide under his bed and hide, but even if he had time he’s frozen in place and he can’t move no matter how hard he tries.

A figure is silhouetted in the light from the slowly opening door, and Zach lets out a terrified breath. 

“Zach?”

He flinches at the unexpected noise, but as he hears the familiar voice he recognizes Gray’s figure in the doorway and the way his shoulders hunch over and the way his feet drag over the hallway carpet and thunk onto the hardwood floor of Zach’s room.

He’s relieved that it’s only his little brother until he realizes that Gray is now directly in the line of sight of whatever’s hiding in the shadows.

“Shut the door,” Zach hisses, finally able to move, scrambling to the edge of his bed. “They’ll see you!”

Gray doesn’t do anything for a few seconds but it feels like hours as Zach waits and listens for the huffing of another sentient being in the room. And then slowly, Gray shuts the door, turning the knob so it doesn’t click as it shuts. He pads towards the bed, and Zach grabs him as soon as he gets close enough, pulling him into his arms and breathing in the smell of his hair.

“You’re shaking,” Gray says offhandedly, like he’s not concerned about his impending doom.

“Shh,” Zach rasps into Gray’s ear, clapping his hand over his mouth.

The shadows shift again as a car passes on the road outside, the light beaming through the window and illuminating the room for a few seconds. 

There’s nothing but his furniture in sight, and Zach’s breath hitches. Where did they go? 

“It must be under the bed,” he whispers as quietly as he can. “We have to get out of here.” He looks towards the closed door, trying and failing to think of how they can get there.

As soon as they step foot off of the bed they’ll be eaten alive. He clutches his fist in Gray’s shirt, feeling him there and real and impossibly calm. He can’t think. He needs to think. He can’t -

Gray reaches up and peels Zach’s hand away from his mouth. “Zach,” he says quietly. There’s something like pity in his voice.

“It’s going to be okay,” Zach says, mind still racing and still panicking. He doesn’t believe what he’s saying, but it’s okay to lie when people are scared, right?

Except Gray isn’t scared. 

“There’s nothing here, Zach,” Gray says, twisting around in his grasp to stare him in the eyes. The light from the window shines across his face, illuminating his eyes - they’re staring to well up with tears.

It takes a few seconds for his words to sink in.

“What do you mean?” Zach breathes. “Gray, there - “ He cuts off, looking around at the shadows.

“You’re home,” Gray says, grabbing Zach’s hand in his own. “You’re in your room and there’s no -“ 

Gray stops as his voice cracks, swallowing.

“There’s nothing there,” he finishes softly. 

Zach sits on his bed, shaking, mind reeling. “They’re hiding,” he says, almost a question. “I’m sure - I know -“

Gray moves to step off of the bed.

“No!” Zach hisses, and in his mind he hears the hiss of a raptor and can see his nightmares becoming reality as his brother is torn to pieces, and so Zach grabs Gray by the waist and pulls him away from the edge.

Gray yelps and forcefully pushes Zach’s arms away, bolting towards the door before Zach can think.

He skids to a halt and flips the light switch, flooding the room with artificial light and causing Zach to close his eyes.

“Gray, turn it off, get back here!” Zach says as loudly as he dares, heart racing as he fights the pain and forces his eyes open, arms curling around himself and fingers digging into his sides.

Gray stands by the light switch, face scrunched up like he’s in pain. The room, now bright, looks severely less threatening than it did a few moments ago. Gray stalks forward, and drops to the ground to look under the bed.

“What are you doing?” Zach screeches in a whisper, and he’s scared to look over the side of the bed, scared that he’ll look just in time to see Gray get his head bitten off or claws will sink into his unguarded back, but he does it anyway.

Gray looks up at him. “There’s nothing there,” he says for the third time, and beckons Zach down to look as well. Nothing reaches out to swipe at his brother and nothing roars and nothing clicks and nothing breathes, and Zach tentatively leans his head over the side to look.

There’s nothing there. He can see all the way to the wall on the other side of the bed.

And suddenly, like a switch has been flipped, everything clicks back into reality.

Zach knows there’s nothing there and he knows he’s safe, and shame starts creeping up his spine. He sits up too fast, blood rushing from his head as he hugs himself even tighter.

“Zach?” Gray says, his big eyes looking concerned, curly hair flying as he stands.

“No, I know,” Zach snaps, no longer a whisper, but his throat still won’t work and the words come out broken and hoarse. Gray clambers onto the mattress, the springs creaking with every movement. He puts his hand on Zach’s arm, and Zach flinches away. He can’t look Gray in the eyes, and his cheeks are burning.

He’d just gone crazy, completely and utterly flipped out over something that wasn’t even there. Gray must think he’s insane.

“Are you okay?” Gray asks. He’s quiet, like Zach is a spooked animal, like one wrong move and he’ll snap again.

“Fine,” he says, voice a little stronger, trying to pull himself together. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I’m going back to sleep, you can leave me alone now.” Zach glares at Gray, pretending he’s annoyed and pretending he won’t spend the rest of the night wide awake; staring at the shadows on the walls and remembering how terrifying it felt to have to run for his life.

“Okay,” Gray says hesitantly. “So go back to sleep.” He gets up, walking back to the door and switching off the light. Immediately, the shadows return. Zach’s breath hitches and he hopes Gray didn’t hear him.

“Actually, actually -“ he says, lurching back towards the headboard, trying to keep his voice calm. “Could you leave it on? Not that I need it, I just -“

Gray turns the light back on and Zach stops, blinking away the burning sensation. 

“You sure you’re fine?” Gray asks, like he already knows the answer, and Zach realizes with a lurch that Gray is copying him.

Tonight is an anomaly. 

On a normal night, it’s Zach waking up to Gray’s terrified screams and fending off his parent’s concerns. On a normal night, it’s Zach who comforts Gray and tells him it’s okay, you’re home, you’re safe. On a normal night, it’s Zach who turns the light on and off and it’s Zach who holds Gray until he falls asleep.

“Go back to your room, Gray,” Zach says, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I’m fine.”

Gray stares back at him, wearing his “how dumb do you think I am” look.

So Zach sighs, scooting towards the wall, and pats the side of the bed. “Just once,” he grumbles, and he tries to ignore the way everything seems safer with another person in the room.

“Because you’re a tough teenager with a reputation,” Gray smiles, leaping with the energy only little kids have onto the bed. He yanks the sheet out from under Zach’s leg and burrows under it, nudging his head up against Zach’s side. “If mom asks, it was me again.”

Zach smiles against his will. He slides down and tucks his legs under the sheet as Gray throws his arm over his stomach. “With all your nightmares, I’m surprised Mom hasn’t dragged you to a psychiatrist yet,” he says, running his fingernails lightly over Gray’s arm. It’s supposed to be a joke but it falls flat, swerving into the dangerous territory of reality.

Gray breathes out heavily. “She would, but she’s too busy trying to hide the divorce from me.”

Zach frowns. “Gray, they said they were going to try -“

“Yeah,” Gray snorts, voice getting choked. “They tried for a grand total of three days before they were back to ripping each other’s throats out.”

Zach doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what to say that won’t just make things worse.

“The island didn’t change anything, it’s gonna be just like before,” Gray sniffs. “Dad’s already bought another house, and I saw papers in mom’s bag -“ 

“Hey,” Zach interrupts. He puts his hand on Gray’s head, and feels something wet leaking through his shirt. Gray sniffs again. “Hey, don’t cry,” he tries, uncomfortably trying to soothe his brother. He’d screwed up so royally on the train in the park, and he didn’t want a repeat of the situation. “It’ll be okay.”

Empty lies. Mom and Dad are divorcing, they might get separated, Gray has horrible nightmares every night and Zach sees monsters that follow him no matter where he goes.

Gray lifts his head and Zach gets another “how dumb do you think I am” look, and there are tear tracks running down Gray’s face.

“Okay,” Zach amends, slowly. Outside, a car rumbles, and he has to remind himself that it’s only a car. “So maybe life sucks right now.”

Gray exhales a short, soft laugh and buries his face in Zach’s side again.

“But life sucks for both of us, and so we gotta stick together,” Zach says, lightly tracing stars on Gray’s arm. “Remember what I told you?” 

What Zach told him on the island, when they’d almost died too many times, when they were half-crazy with fear, when any moment they could be dead and when Zach had no right or reason to make promises but he did it anyway.

“You’re always gonna be there,” Gray murmurs, his tight grip on Zach’s shirt slowly loosening. “But then I said, ‘You won’t be around forever,’ and -“

Zach scoffs, ignoring the heavy truth that statement carries. “Gray, I’m gonna haunt you until you die. You can’t get rid of me.”

It only sort of works, Zach can see - Gray laughs like he’s supposed to and Zach ruffles his hair like he always does, and then the conversation is over as he shushes Gray with a “Goodnight” and Gray mumbles something indistinct.

The weight in his chest and the lump in his throat don’t go away, and he still feels wary, like if he lets his guard down everything will shatter.

But he falls asleep anyway, his little brother wrapped around him, the light on and the sound of Gray’s snoring blocking out the noise of the cars.

He dreams of dinosaurs and death and fear, he dreams of his brother dying in his arms, in the mouth of a monster, drowning in a lake, dropped from one hundred feet in the air.

But when he jolts awake, Gray is there, warm like a furnace and breathing slowly and calmly, and Zach can feel him curled against his side and know that this is real and this is safe.

His self-diagnosed PTSD isn’t gone, and he doesn’t know if it ever will be. 

But Gray is drooling on his shirt and their breaths are evening out, the light chases away the shadows, and Zach feels oddly peaceful. He slowly drifts back to sleep, one arm around Gray and the other resting in his little brother’s curls.

Zach doesn’t dream for the rest of the night, and when he wakes up in the morning, Gray’s still there, and everything is okay.


End file.
